Day Two!

Blog update
Our second full day in China was fun! We got to do some casual shopping and found some treats to bring home. I’m most excited that we were able to get decorations for our Chinese New Year tree at home! The kids will love it!!
We got up and had breakfast at our hotel. We went right at 6am when they opened and it was still pitch black outside. After a yummy breakfast, we got to go feed the fish, which the kids loved!
We hung out in the room for a while then met our guide Alexa downstairs in the lobby at 9:30. We met two other families downstairs. One is the precious family that adopted Lana…Lanaya on Reece’s Rainbow!! I might have acted like a crazy person, I was so excited to see her!!! I about jumped out of my skin!! To see this precious baby in real life and to know she has a forever family to love her! There is nothing like it!
We headed off with Alexa to the toy market. I can’t remember how many floors it was, maybe seven or eight, but it was huge!!! Lots of toys, trinkets, home decor items. I wish I could have had just a few hours to go through all by myself. Ha! Ethan got a set of “Legos” about 15 minutes in and he was ready to GO!! God has definitely not blessed him with patience. He only told me he was ready to go to the hotel about 1,837 times. Ellie did great of course! Our guide Alexa even did some shopping. I think we were a bad influence. Ha!
We ran into sweet Rosie and her momma, Angela. I might have acted like a crazy person, I was so excited to see them! Angela’s red hair was easy to spot in the sea of dark hair here. Rosie is so precious!!! I just wanted to squeeze her but of course I didn’t.
We got some neat treasures, I’ll share some pics below. Everything really was such a good price there. So inexpensive.
We also stopped at a few outdoor shops and purchased some Chinese New Year decorations! So excited to decorate and celebrate!
Then our guide offered to take us to a stationery store. I am thinking beautiful fancy papers and cards. I used to manage a Hallmark store so I love good stationery! I was excited! When we got there, I just had to laugh. It was pencils, staples, folders, rubber bands! We got some pencils to see how they measure up, Alexa was ecstatic to see these pencils….ha! I’ll keep you posted!!
It is so nice having the same guides the second time around. You already know them and are comfortable around them. Makes the trip easier. John Preston was on the shared list, not a specific agency list so we could have gone with ANY adoption agency to adopt. We love Madison Adoption Associates and the number one reason we chose them again was to be with Richard and Alexa our guides. They do such a great job!
After shopping we came back to the hotel and ate some beef jerky, granola bars and cookies. The lunch of champions! I knew that I could not stay awake for two big meals. So we decided on this snack and then a big dinner at The Paddy Field, an Irish pub here in Guangzhou. When we left the hotel to walk to the restaurant, we went out the wrong corner and got turned around. Ellie got us pointed back in the right direction! See why I need this girl?!?! Her memory is awesome!!
Last time we were in China, I was a nervous wreck each time I walked out of that hotel by myself. This time I feel much more confident. Don’t worry, my momma senses and eagle eye are still on guard but it is a bit easier to enjoy our time out this time. Yesterday, Ethan got to see his first people with disabilities begging on the street. He was shocked I think and not sure what to think. Believe me when I tell you that there really is NO life for people with disabilities here. Not yet. No resources to serve them, no place for them in society. The future for John Preston and MinLan is something that I do not want to even imagine. This is why our advocacy is so important. We can not stop. We have got to work hard to find families for all of the waiting children. God has called us to this. We have to listen and take action.
Dinner at the pub was good but not as good as I remembered. I could barely keep my eyes open so that didn’t help. Ellie and I enjoyed fish & chips and Ethan had a hamburger that looked yummy. We got soft drinks and forgot to ask for NO ICE!! I don’t think I have ever prayed over a dinner more than I prayed over this one. So far so good and no one has had an upset stomach!
I managed to stay up until about 6:30 last night with the kids insisting of course that they were not tired. About ten minute after my head hit the pillow, they were out too. When will they listen to momma? I knew they were tired! Ha!!
Enjoying the days here but missing home. Can’t wait to have John Preston in my arms in about eleven hours!!
Please pray hard for him! His whole world will change in about five minutes this afternoon. He will be prepping in just a while to travel the two hours to Guangzhou with workers from his orphanage. They will give him to us and walk away. He will be confused and overwhelmed. Please just pray for his heart.
Pray for Ethan and Ellie. It is hard for them to have to see the grief of adoption. It is hard to watch for me as an adult so I can only imagine how it affects their little hearts. When we adopted MinLan, Ellie cried so many tears with her during our trip. They have never experienced grief and loss in this way.
Please pray for me. This time is exciting and scary all at the same time. We are stepping into the unknown. What will John Preston REALLY be like. Will the rest of our trip go smoothly or be the hardest thing we have ever endured? We have no way to know. But we are here for the long haul. Pray that I am able to have the patience and flexibility I need to care for all three of my babies and get them through this trip. It gets harder and harder as the days go by.
We love you all and are so grateful you are on this journey with us.
Love,